Pilates Principle: Alignment and Weight Bearing of the Extremities

Our next Pilates principle is alignment and weight bearing of the extremities.  In other words, we want to approximate straightness (in our bodies!  This is not queer-shaming!) for optimal relations with gravity.  Eric Franklin says, “Ideal Alignment involves all body parts approximating toward the central axis, as much as structure permits.”

Structurally, we’re actually not all that straight.  Our spines curve multiple times from top to bottom.  Our femurs angle in from the hip sockets to the knees.  Our knees, even though they are mostly hinges, also have some rotational abilities.  What we want to do, when we align ourselves, is to make sure that we are moving our bones in ways that facilitate movement and avoid injury.

 

In Pilates, we do this by working with what are called kinetic chains to refine our movements.  There are three kinds:  closed, pseudo-closed, and open.  Closed kinetic chain movements are those when we are working against a stable surface.  When we do footwork on the reformer, that is a closed chain movement because our feet are firmly on the foot bar while our knees and hips are bending.  Doing a single leg pump on the chair is a pseudo closed chain movement for the working leg because the working foot is stabilized against the chair pedal while the pedal moves through space.  Open chain movement is what happens when we do femur arcs on the mat:  our foot is not stabilized against anything as it moves through space with the motion of the hip.

 

Closed kinetic chains are simplest for our bodies.  The stabilization provided by the closure lets us focus on the parts that are moving without worrying about the parts that are held still.  As we progress, we can learn to stabilize ourselves and carry on through open chain movements with proper alignment.

 

Another way we work on this principle is by doing exercises with different relationships to gravity.  Footwork on the reformer, double leg pump on the chair, footwork on the trap table, and squats are all very similar exercises, but our relationship to gravity and weight-bearing is different in each position.  Sometimes, as in footwork on the reformer, we are not working against very much resistance at all, which allows people with problematic knees to experience the movement of a squat without all that stress.  We can build up our ability to deal with gravity gradually.

 

All this work helps us learn where our bodies are in space, move with efficiency and grace, and feel good.

 

Go play.